My thoughts on why he crashed.

1. warmup lap and he probably had cold tires (and definitely a slow brain)
2. He lifted
3. he was waaaaayyyy too slow w/ his steering. It looks like he got the first quick turn to the left done properly, if he was quicker getting the wheel turned back to the right after correcting for the oversteer he should have been able to save that.

 

Look at the wheels, doesnt look that bad to me.

Thats a hefty response for such slow speed.

Characteristics of a mid-engine car I would guess.

 

This looks like why we tell tell students 'both feet in'. When the back end started to come around had the owner been hard on the brakes he would have scrubbed off a lot more speed. Which, one would hope, would have greatly reduced/eliminated the damage.

Easy to second guess and sorry for the owners loss. I would not want to see my 91 end up like that.

Alan

 

So "both feet in" means both feet should mash on the brakes?

I've never known exactly what that phrase meant.

 

Sorry for not being clear. Both feet in means on the brake and the clutch, assuming the car is a manual.

 

Both feet in is good advice if your're surprised. You will use your brakes / tires to destroy the 1st portion of kinetic energy, and other will be able to predict where you're going.

You'll also probably not shoot off to the side.

Anyone with more experience than me know what ABS will do at high slip angles -i.e. when trying to lock the wheels during a spin when I want to slide straight on?

 

good advice. as my instructor tells me this always. thankfully i have yet to experience it

 

When you are going sideways the wheels aren't rotating (not to any significant extent), so ABS not very relevant. I've seen S2000s flat spot tires going off sideways.

 

If desired ABS can be disabled in the NSX (and I would assume the S2000 also) by pulling the hand brake far enough for the light to come on (one click or less) and driving above 25mph for some period of time (10-15 seconds?)...though I suppose one wouldn't want to do such as ABS is great at the track unless what you're describing occurs (which hopefully is unlikely per reasoning in rlaifatt's post).

I've spun my NSX half-way off a track (rear off, front on) once in a "both feet in" moment. Certainly someone with enough skill could have saved it, but I can think of worse outcomes had I tried to save it doing something I didn't have experience with. I don't think I'll be comfortable "staying on the throttle" in that degree of a slide until I've had time on a BIG skipad to practice such at similar speeds. I consider the "both feet in" to be good advice for a majority of HPDE drivers as they don't have the experience that comes from such practice (which I consider hard to come by...I've had a hell of a time finding a suitable large, flat, paved surface).

 

both feet in?! then he would have no chance of saving the car.


here's what I think happened:

turned in too early, got scared, and tried to pinch the exit. car starts sliding sideways, so he lifts. just like every other mid-engine car, if you lift abruptly in a slide, the car WILL kick back the other way. Seems like a classic screw-up in a mid-engine car to me.

had he kept his foot in it, he would have saved it. someone needs to tell him that THAT is the lesson he should have learned... not merely "track insurance".